Work Text:
i.
Katsuki is supposed to be finished with work already. He’s supposed to be changed out of his scrubs and into his orange hoodie and black sweats, lounging on his lumpy sofa flipping through trash television while waiting for his rice to finish cooking.
Instead, he finds himself still stuck in the vet clinic, because Kirishima, his co-worker slash friend slash biggest pain in his ass, is the biggest jerk he’s ever known with the biggest please-help-me-i-owe-you-one eyes that can rival any puppies.
Actually, if he’s allowed to be specific, he finds himself stuck in consult room 2 with the cutest, roundest cat he’s ever seen in his veterinary career, and the prettiest guy he’s ever laid eyes on his entire life, aka the cat’s owner.
“I’m not really sure what happened, actually. I gave her her dinner and left to do laundry and she suddenly just started hacking. By the time I rushed back to the kitchen there was a puddle of brown vomit! It wasn’t like the normal hairball vomit… oh God, what if she ate something else in the 2 minutes I left? What if it was rat poison? Sorry, baby, I–”
“Hey, hey. Calm down.” Katsuki interrupts, strong and sharp, with the teeniest tinge of sympathy in his voice; it is never his strong suit anyways. He does manage to hold back a snort though. Rich-looking guy, spoiled-looking cat; they must live in some high end apartment in Tokyo.
“Do you even have rat poison at home?”
Katsuki doubts so. The guy opens and closes his mouth like a fish, blushes pink on his cheeks. “... No.”
Usually Katsuki likes to brag and gloat about how he’s right about things, but he holds his tongue. Instead, he brings the cat out of his carrier. The black and white cat looks around cautiously, extending her neck to sniff at Katsuki’s outstretched hand before deciding to nuzzle the side of her face against it.
“Oh.” The pretty owner says, heterochromic eyes widening in surprise. “She likes you.”
“She doesn’t like anyone else?” He asks, eyes still trained on the man, fingers still scratching the cat’s head.
“Not in particular, I think. She lets my sister do that only when she’s offered treats, and Natsuo-nii can only touch her for like 5 seconds before she walks away. She hisses and swipes at my father, but I don’t think that’s really her fault.”
“Well, she seems comfortable enough here.” Katsuki states, free arm reaching behind to grab his stethoscope, letting the cat sniff at the receptor before placing it on her chest. “Come, let’s listen to your heart and lungs.”
He can practically feel the nervous energy radiating from the owner, so just to be a nice vet today, he tells the guy that the cat’s heart and lungs sound good, clear breathing sounds and healthy beating heart.
“Anything else unusual, other than the vomiting?”
“Not that I can think of, no.”
“Are there any changes to her usual routine? Like, did you switch up her diet, or bring her anywhere different?”
“Hmm, no… Although, I think Touya-nii did feed her something last night. A tuna pouch with high omega-3 or something? I’m not sure. He said he got it for free from a friend. Do you think it’s that? I’m going to kill him! Should’ve known that his friends are as dodgy as him.”
Katsuki simply raises an eyebrow at the rant. He’s still stroking along the cat’s back, fingers scratching at the rump. Such an attention seeker, this one. “Well, judging from what you said, she probably has an upset stomach from the high fat content of the snack.”
“Is she going to be okay?”
Pretty Owner sounds genuinely worried, his fingers coming up to scratch under her chin, making the feline purr in delight. Katsuki holds back a scoff (as he usually does with other owners, but this one is prettier; he doesn’t make the rules).
“Yeah, she’s going to be fine. I’ll just give her an anti-nausea injection today, and I’ll dispense some anti-inflammatory medication for her to have at home. You just have to hide the pill in some food. That sound good to you?”
Pretty Owner visibly relaxes. “Yeah, yeah. She will eat anything, so getting the pill down should be no problem.”
“Well, this is probably a good time to tell you that she’s a bit overweighted.” Katsuki chuckles dryly. “Might be good to put her on a diet and exercise a bit more.”
Pretty Owner gasps dramatically, blue and grey eyes widening comically as both his hands fly up to cover the cat’s ears, a pronounced pout taking over half his face. “Shh! She’ll hear.”
Katsuki resists his urge to roll his eyes. “Bland diets, and gradually taper the amount. I’ll be back with the meds.”
When he steps back into the consult room, he hears the last of the whispers “... listen to the mean vet, you’re perfect as you are now.” This time, Katsuki does roll his eyes, and he makes sure to do it when the pretty guy is looking at him. Somehow, his instincts tell him this will not bite him in the ass.
As the guy walks out of the room, throwing a glance behind his shoulder to say thank you, Katsuki realises he didn’t even catch the name of the pretty owner.
ii.
Todoroki Shouto, turns out to be the name of Pretty Owner, as he had dumbly asked Mina afterwards, who was working at the reception that day. She had also very kindly reminded him, with an evil scheming grin on her face, that he could have actually found out the name by himself just by looking at the digitised patient file on his computer.
Now, the same large block letters of ‘Todoroki Shouto with Soba’ appear on his screen again two weeks after their first encounter. Pretty Owner (Todoroki Shouto, his brain helpfully supplies) is currently sitting in the waiting room, fiddling with his baby blue sweater, looking a tad too excited to be in the vet clinic than other normal human beings.
“Todoroki-san,” Katsuki greets briskly, as the taller man makes his way into the consult room with his cat carrier. “How can I help you today?”
“I just wanted to come in and do a check-up, make sure everything is okay after the vomiting last time.” Todoroki says, letting the cat out. She immediately pokes around curiously, rubbing her side against Katsuki’s arm.
“Still a cutie fattie, I see.” Katsuki mutters affectionately. Todoroki blushes at that, “And I’ve been trying to get her on the diet you said, but it’s been quite hard. I think she doesn’t like me that much now since I don’t give her as many treats.”
“Listening to my advice, are you?”
The dual-colored haired man stays silent, so Katsuki goes on to do his job. The cat seems comfortable enough to let him poke and prod, showing zero signs of discomfort. He pops her on the scale last, surprised to see her actually dropping in weight compared to last time.
“Well, hating you is one thing,” Katsuki comments easily, “but the diet is working. She has dropped 0.2kg since the last time she came in. Everything looks healthy as well.”
“She seems to like you better than she likes me now.” Todoroki borderline whines, “What’s the point of having a cat if I’m not spoiling her?”
“Keep doing what you’re doing, and she should be able to drop 2kg to her ideal weight. You wouldn’t need to be coming back for a while.”
“Oh.”
Katsuki feels like Todoroki looks a bit disappointed at this, but it might just be the trick of light (or his delusional mind making a fool out of him).
“Well, when is she due for her next vaccination?”
“Hmm,” Katsuki clicks on his computer, “That will be four months from now.”
“Oh.”
Again with that saggy, defeated voice. Katsuki doesn’t know whether or not he wants the dismay to be real or not. It’s too late to do anything about it though, he thinks to himself later, when he hears Mina saying goodbye to Todoroki rather cheerfully and he feels his heart sink just a tiny bit. Four months is a long time.
“Don’t fret.” Kirishima tells him later on, “Four months is going to go by in a blink of an eye. You’ll be seeing him before you know it, and maybe by then, you would have worked up the courage to confess to him!”
“What in the actual fuck are you talking about.” Katsuki grumbles with hot reddened cheeks, flipping him off. How on earth did Kirishima even find out about this non-crush of his?
“Mina said you looked particularly upset after the consult with the Todoroki guy.”
Of course, it’s Mina.
iii.
Katsuki hears it before he sees it. “Todoroki-san, fancy seeing you again!” is what he hears from Mina’s booming voice. Naturally, this wakes him up better than any amount of espresso can on a chilly winter morning. He dashes to the bathroom to fix his birdnest of a hair (to no avail, but whatever he tried) and settles on the swirly chair in the consult room, stuffing a hand into the pocket of his scrub pants, trying to look nonchalant when Mina brings Todoroki through the door.
“Good morning,” Todoroki blurts out. Katsuki grumbles his response. “Back so soon? What’s up with Soba?”
“Well, she…” Todoroki sounds mildly uncertain. “She has been scratching her ear a lot recently, after she came back from the groomer’s. I thought she might have caught something from there.”
At this point, the cat seems fairly used to him already, tilting her head up automatically to look at him as if she understands what they’re talking about. Katsuki flips back her ears, which look pretty clean.
“I’m just gonna stick a Q-tip in, just to make sure there’s no wax or anything.”
Todoroki hums and his cat meows, to which Katsuki can’t help but quirk his lips up slightly. Soba doesn’t seem to react aggressively to this, not jerking her head away like some other pets do, but she does pull herself further and further away towards the edge of the table. That’s when Todoroki snakes his arm up and pulls her snug against his belly, effectively holding her still so that Katsuki can do his job properly, but all Katsuki can think of is how his fingers brush against his when they’re reaching around the cat. He continues to wriggle the Q-tip in her ear canals, forcing himself to not mull over the fact that their faces are quite close to one another, and their arms are in fact, touching. Todoroki’s fingers also brush over his with every stroke to Soba’s head in an attempt to calm her down. Katsuki may go into a coma.
Katsuki just hopes that Todoroki doesn’t notice his blushing mess of a face when he announces that he’s going to go to the back and take a look at the samples under the microscope.
“Well, her ears look clean. No yeast, no bacteria.”
“Oh, that’s… good.”
“She might have just gotten into some dusty environment, like behind the sofa, or under the cupboards. But yeah, nothing to worry about.”
“Right,” Todoroki responds lamely, in a somewhat dampened tone. “So… No medications needed, no need to come back for a recheck?”
“Nah, not necessary.” Katsuki replies, feeling sullen all of a sudden (for no reason at all!). “The next appointment would be in around three months time, for the vaccination.”
“Okay.” Todoroki gives him a gentle smile, though it looks a bit forced if you ask him. “Guess I’ll see you then.”
That five-step trudge across the room and out the door seems to last longer than usual, and Katsuki, filled with a sudden burst of courage or tomfoolery (whichever one you want to look at it from), blurts out, “Have a lovely day, take care!”
Todoroki turns around, this time with a smile more genuine and sweet (that makes Katsuki want to melt into the floorboards, but no one has to know) and eyes that crinkle in a cute way, says, “Thanks, hope to see you around.”
Katsuki absolutely ignores the gleeful glance from Mina between the two of them as he walks back into the consult room; he doesn’t know if he can survive another five months without seeing this guy. He’s so screwed.
“And he tells the handsome guy to have a nice day!”
“You did not!” Kirishima gasps, absolutely astonished. He clasps his hands onto his shoulders and lightly shakes him. Katsuki feels the vein on his forehead growing bigger by the second.
“Stop fucking touching me and let me finish typing my fucking notes! And what’s wrong with saying that to an owner? You do it all the damn time!”
“Yeah, I do it all the time, but you? That’s basically a first!”
“Oh, oh!” Mina perks, suddenly remembering something. “And you know what Shouto-san says back? He says he hopes to see him around!”
“Gosh, Pinky! Shut the hell up!” Katsuki groans, dragging a palm down his face. He feels marginally better when Kirishima gets so excited that he almost falls off his chair, but it still doesn’t help that his nosy co-workers are feeding into his delusion (as if his own delusions aren’t enough). “And since when do you call him Shouto-san?”
“Oho,” Mina leers, a playful glint sparkling in her eyes. “Jealous, are we?”
“No, the fuck?”
He can’t wait until the end of the day to get away from these idiots and go home to mope about this in peace.
iv.
Katsuki visibly perks up when he sees the familiar name pop up on his schedule.
Todoroki Shouto with Soba
“What are you staring at?”
“Nothing, just the history of the patients.” Katsuki says quickly, clicking out of the file with lightning speed, pretending to look at other files for patients lined up for today. Unfortunately, Kirishima’s sharp eyes are faster than his fingers.
“Ah, Todoroki Shouto with Soba? As if you haven’t been thinking about him ever since the first time he came through the door.”
“I have not.” He growls, flicking his friend on his forehead. A weak attempt really, but that’s all he can do right now. “Just wondering why he’s coming back again so soon.”
Which is partially true, because it’s only been a few weeks since the last visit. He’s absolutely not going to admit that even seeing his stupid name makes his stupid heart jump.
“Maybe he’s coming in just to see you.” Kirishima jokes. Katsuki rolls his eyes so far back it hurts. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
The day passes by slowly, and Katsuki keeps looking at the clock every fifteen minutes, waiting for 4pm to come. His heart is thumping with anticipation when the 3:45 appointment ends, yet what he sees next makes his heart sink. A tall, lanky guy with black hair, dressed in leather jacket and chunky boots, decorated in multiple facial piercings, walks in the room. Katsuki’s about to kindly remind the client that he would have to patiently wait for his appointment in the waiting room when a familiar soft ‘meow’ comes from the carrier; Soba’s voice.
“Hey.”
Katsuki’s eyes snap back to the guy, confused red eyes staring into piercing blue ones that look just a tad too familiar. The guy leans against the metal table in the center of the room, looking too comfortable to be here. Soba’s acting like her usual self, relaxing on the towel and continuously headbutting into the guy’s hand as he keeps scratching behind her ear. Katsuki feels as if a cat’s got his tongue; ten million thoughts flying through his head within a few seconds.
Who’s this guy? Why is Soba with him? Why is Soba acting so familiar with him? Didn’t Todoroki say that Soba rarely gets comfortable with people? And speaking of Todoroki, where is he? Why did this guy come instead of him?
Oh my God, Katsuki feels his breath stuck in his throat: Are they a… couple? All this time, has Katsuki been pining over a taken man? That would be the only explanation, right?
“Hey Doc. You okay there?”
Katsuki snaps back, throat getting dry. He mutters, “Yeah, sorry. It’s been a long day.”
“Right,” He whistles, “Well, Soba here’s been sleeping more often recently.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, Shou insisted that it’s out of character for her to be sleepin’ so much durin’ the day and kept sayin’ we should bring her to the vet. I said ‘it’s normal for cats, innit? For them to sleep a lot. Not like she be sleepin’ for the whole day unmovin’ and shit’, but Shou says it’s so abnormal for her and keeps wantin’ to come to the vet.”
Katsuki nods numbly. All he hears is ‘Shou’.
Shou, as in Shouto, as in Todoroki’s first name. This guy is close enough to Todoroki that he calls him a nickname so freely. Katsuki wants to dig a hole and hide in there forever.
“Okay, lemme give her a check-up.” He reaches out to Soba, who nuzzles her head into his palm. Even a cat this cute can only give him minimal comfort. He’s halfway through palpating her abdomen when three soft raps come through the door. Katsuki doesn’t even get the chance to say they’re in the middle of a consult when the door slides open, and Todoroki rushes in, cheeks flushed and hair messy.
“Bakugou-san, hi.” He says, almost out of breath, a tiny smile etched on his face. Katsuki ignores the weird pang in his chest, and forces himself to ignore the newcomer. Still, he’s a vet on the clock, and he gets enough complaints from clients as it is, so he responds with the smallest, un-grumpiest grunt he can muster; surely it’ll suffice.
He misses the way the other man falters.
“I told you to come get me when you get called in!” Todoroki turns to the inky-haired man and stage-whispers, who is slumped in the small metal stool at the corner of the room.
“Meh.” He shrugs carelessly, which only earns him a glare (hardly intimidating) and a punch in the arm that probably hurts more than it looks, because the man flinches and reaches up to grab his arm.
“Ow! What the fuck was that for?”
“I told you to come get me!” He repeats, gritting his teeth. “How hard was it?”
“Hey, what’s the big deal? You’re still here in the end. Stop being such a fuckin’ brat.” The gangly man bites back, then adds quietly, “Fuckin’ can’t go two seconds without seein- Ow!”
Todoroki’s slim fingers come up to pinch and twist on a patch of skin on him. “Shut up!”
“What! As if you weren’t obvious enough-”
“Touya!”
“Ahem.” Katsuki clears his throat loudly to be intentionally rude, effectively stopping the conversation between the two other men. At least it means that he can stop listening to their old-married-couple-bickering. He just wants to get this consultation over and done with as soon as possible.
“Soba seems fine, completely healthy from what I can see. You mentioned she was sleeping a lot?”
The question is directed more towards the other man, but Todoroki answers instead. “Uh huh, I’m just worried there is some neurological issue going on.”
At the corner, a barely concealed snicker comes from the man, and for some reason, Todoroki’s face blushes into a nice shade of pink; Katsuki feels like there’s some inside joke going on that he doesn’t understand.
“There’s nothing wrong with sleeping a bit more. Cats get these short small bouts of energy, so it’s completely normal for them to nap around.”
“See, Shou-shou, told you nothing is wrong.” The man says, almost in a mocking tone.
“Ugh, you’re nothing but a nuisance, Touya-nii. Why did you even come with me today?” Todoroki rounds on the man again, still holding a steady hand on his cat, yet completely oblivious to the inner turmoil rumbling inside the vet.
Touya-nii? Touya-nii? They’re brothers?
“Wait, this is your brother?” Katsuki blurts out, interrupting their pointless squabbling. Both men turn and blink at him. Katsuki’s face is burning with embarrassment.
“Yes?” Todoroki answers, tilting his head to one side rather adorably. “Who did you think he was?”
And suddenly he can see it: the same body shape, the same electric blue eyes. The dark heavy cloud in Katsuki’s heart has suddenly cleared, replaced with sunshine, rainbows and butterflies.
“Not gonna lie, you guys were acting like a couple.”
Todoroki’s face twists with disgust, while Touya crackles, “Oh God! Natsu’s gonna have a field day with this!”
By the end of the appointment, Katsuki has reassured Todoroki three times that Soba is as healthy as an overweight cat can be, and his asshat of a brother is still laughing like a patient from the mental asylum.
“Sorry about him,” Todoroki ducks his head in apology, “He usually behaves better than this… I won’t bring him next time.”
“That’s okay.” Katsuki scratches the back of his head, managing a small chuckle. “Made too ridiculous of an assumption, I guess.”
“Is that why you were in such a terrible mood throughout the whole consultation?” Todoroki asks, peering at him with wide inquisitive eyes. Katsuki can only glance away, maintaining his silence.
“See you next time, for the vaccination.” He says after a while, touching him on the arm, and without waiting for Katsuki’s reply, he turns away. The blond slumps against his chair: the emotional roller coaster he’s experienced in the past 15 minutes is enough to take away 5 years of his life.
He can still feel the warmth radiating off his arm from where Todoroki’s touched long after the day has ended.
v.
Today’s it. Today’s the day. Katsuki’s been anticipating this day for months, slowly counting down the days until he finally sees the big red circle marked on his calendar. This is getting a bit out of hand, his brain unhelpfully supplies, because he’s never acted like this before. Not over his first crush in middle school, not over the handsome charismatic guy on campus in university, and certainly not over the prettiest guy he’s ever seen in his whole entire life that he’s only met a handful of times in a professional setting.
Still, he wakes up just a tad earlier this morning, combs his hair so that they look less in disarray, and heads to the clinic. Mina greets him with an exceptionally bright grin and pounces on him from behind in a way he can barely avoid. “So, today’s the day!”
Katsuki figures if he acts innocent, he can avoid talking about it with his annoyingly nosy colleagues. “Today’s what day?”
“The day Shouto-kun finally comes in again! Don’t tell me you haven’t been looking forward to it!”
Katsuki’s vein is threatening to pop. Last time it was Shouto-san, now it’s Shouto-kun? Since when?
“Oh, is today the long-awaited vaccination day?” Kirishima pipes up. Mina just nods excitedly. Katsuki groans.
“So what? It’s just going to be an appointment. Then he’s gonna go home and not come back for another year. By then, I’m going to even forget who he is!”
Kirishima snorts, earning a menacing glare from Katsuki. “You? Forget who he is?”
As much as Katsuki would like to do that, he knows it’s physically impossible for him to do that.
“Just ask him out!”
“Just ask him out?”
“Yeah! I’m 98% sure he’s going to say yes!” Mina beams, “Plus, what’s the harm?”
“Just ask him out? What’s the harm?” Katsuki repeats incredulously, “Are you fucking mental?”
“Why not? There’s no rule saying we can’t date owners. Besides, if it does go badly, you just won’t ever see him again, and you can find someone else that’s second pretty next to him!”
Katsuki grits his teeth as he watches Kirishima’s grin beam into something a bit more mischievous; he knows what the redhead is trying to do, and he hates that he may actually be convinced by it.
“Whatever. My first appointment is here.”
He hopes he doesn’t think about it until Todoroki actually arrives.
Obviously that doesn’t happen. He still does his job well, still gets through the day, only with the strange eagerness and dreadful decision weighing on his mind. When the appointment comes and he sees Todoroki again, he basically gets air knocked out of his lungs. Todoroki doesn’t look much different than he’s last seen him around two months ago: same wide dual-colored bambi eyes, same red and white hair fluffed up by the wind mixing the middle strands together, except —
He’s in a summer fit now, but Katsuki’s only ever seen him in big cosy sweaters that swallow him whole, and he can’t stop himself from staring at the impossibly tiny waist that he has, and is that makeup that he’s wearing? As subtle as it may be, the blond notices the faint shimmer of the blush on his cheekbones, and the slight touch of mascara definitely makes his eyes look even more gorgeous than before.
Katsuki thinks he’s been staring for so long that the pinkish tint on Todoroki’s cheeks are no longer because of the makeup, and Soba’s gentle mewl snaps him out of his trance.
“Hi Todoroki-san. How have you been?” He asks, as nonchalantly as possible, as if he hasn’t been waiting for this exact moment to come.
“I’m good. It’s been a while.” He says with a shy smile, one that makes Katsuki want to keep him in his pocket, but unfortunately he cannot do that, so he opens the cat carrier instead, letting Soba out.
“Hello, Miss Soba. You’ve done well on your diet, haven’t you?”
Todoroki nods happily, hand coming up to stroke his beloved cat. “Yeah, I weighed her just a few days ago, and she's lost around 1.5kg since the first time I came here.”
“That’s excellent progress.” Katsuki muses, and for good measure, he adds, “Good job.”
Todoroki immediately stiffens but relaxes after a moment, the tips of his ears turning red. “Thanks,” he mumbles, still looking at his cat.
“Alright, I’ll give her a brief checkup before I give her the vaccination.”
Katsuki feels his palms getting sweatier by the minute, which is not ideal because cat fur is sticking to his hands, but he can’t control his nerves. In about three minutes, he’s going to finish checking the cat and finish giving the injection, and Todoroki’s going to leave, and he’s not going to see him until one year later for the next vaccination, which means in about three minutes, Katsuki has to make up his mind. Honestly, fuck Kirishima and Mina for planting foolish ideas into his head.
“Is it going to hurt?” Todoroki’s timid voice suddenly pipes up, as Katsuki’s drawing up the vaccine.
“In most cases, no. Just hold her tight and give her a few extra face rubs. For a good girl like her, they mostly won’t even… notice.” Katsuki instructs, pinching up a loose patch of skin behind her neck and sticks the needle in. True to his words, Soba doesn’t even flinch. “There! All done.”
Katsuki offers a treat, which she takes happily, and obediently goes back into her cage. Katsuki clears his throat, “Okay, I’ll go sign the vaccination certificate for you, and that should be all for today.”
Suddenly, Todoroki looks pain-stricken. “Oh.”
Katsuki feels his throat constrict. “Um…”
Large curious, almost hopeful, eyes stare into his. “Yes?”
“... Nothing.”
Fuck you, you coward.
“Oh.” Todoroki says after a beat, shoulders visibly slumping. “Well, I best be going now. I guess I’ll see you again next year…”
It’s now or never, Katsuki.
“What if you see me again tomorrow?” The blond blurts out. The taller man, already halfway to the door, stops and blinks at him confusedly. Katsuki mentally slaps himself on the forehead: never has he ever been tongue-tied as he is now. What is this beautiful man doing to him?
“Sorry, I meant…” Katsuki groans; there’s really no going back at this point. “I was just wondering if you’re free tomorrow night?”
Todoroki is still staring at him, expression unreadable. Katsuki feels like he’s going to combust.
“For dinner,” he clarifies, his skin burning from embarrassment from his shoulders up.
“Like a date,” he adds lamely. He doesn’t even know why he’s still talking; he’s clearly not interested. He hasn’t moved from his position at all, hasn’t said anything for a full minute now, and not that Katsuki’s been looking right at him, but he can feel those judgmental eyes on him. Mina can go and fuck herself; 98% chance he’ll say yes, did she say? How did he even get convinced by that statement this morning with zero backing evidence and –
“Okay.”
“What?” Now he’s confused.
“Okay,” he repeats, with a tiny smile blooming on his face. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Hah?” Katsuki releases a breath he doesn’t even know he’s holding, no longer feeling like he’s going to explode. “What are you –”
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the first time I came into the clinic. That’s why I booked all those nonsensical appointments, just to see you…” Todoroki trails off, voice timid, looking anywhere but at Katsuki. “I saw all these complaints on Google Reviews about you, but you were always so nice to me, and I thought I caught you blushing, so I thought maybe the feeling’s mutual.”
“Yeah…” Katsuki croaks out. He can’t believe what he’s hearing, and he doesn’t know what to say.
“I have to get going now. You have my number on file, so text me?” The taller man suddenly beams. Katsuki nods, feeling like he’s in a fever dream. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Todoroki.”
“Please, call me Shouto.”
“It’s a date, Shouto!”
(They end up meeting each other at a soba shop for their first date. Shouto insists it’s one of his favourite restaurants, but Katsuki’s noodles end up being undercooked, and the broth too bland. Yet, as Shouto is happily talking about his work as a kindergarten teacher, and the way his eyes light up when he mentions his siblings and friends and students, Katsuki finds himself wanting to know everything about this strange, beautiful man.
“You haven’t been eating much. Is it not up to taste?” Shouto asks, chopsticks halfway to his mouth, with a hint of worry to his voice.
“Yeah.”
“Oh…”
“I’ll make you the best damn soba you’ve ever tasted your whole entire life next time. So good that you wouldn’t want to eat any other soba.”
“Oh…” Shouto whispers, completely red in the face. “Okay!”
He’s then on the receiving end of Shouto’s bright beaming smile, and Katsuki had decided then and there that he was absolutely, irrevocably, completely screwed.)
+ (vi.)
Katsuki’s having the absolutely shittiest day. A dog peed on him first thing in the morning during a consultation, and because he didn’t bring spare scrubs, he’s stuck wearing a pair of urine soaked pants. The anaesthesia machine broke down, so all the patients scheduled for surgery today have to cancel, and Katsuki’s stuck having to call each and every owner to come pick up their pets and explain to them why they have to reschedule. And to top it off, an owner even more stubborn than himself (and that’s saying something if he said it) claims that he’s the most incompetent vet she’s ever met her whole entire life because he can’t cure her beloved chihuahua’s cancer. So yes, forgive him if he’s not in the best mood.
“Blasty!”
“Fucking what!”
“Someone’s here to see you!” Mina singsongs from the reception. Katsuki rolls his eyes. “Tell them to go the fuck away! I’m not in the mood.”
“Too late!”
“Ugh, Mina you can’t just let any shitty person come in because they –”
“Katsuki!”
“Fucking wha…” He recognises that voice. He trails off, spinning around to see the person. Shouto is standing in front of him, with a warm smile on his face. Suddenly, he feels like his anger has reduced by half. “What… What are you doing here?”
“Hi baby, good to see you too.” Shouto chuckles cheerfully, his tone laced with slight sarcasm, pushing past him to get to his office, already making himself comfortable on one of the chairs. Katsuki follows, closing the door behind him.
“Of course good to see you, princess. You have no idea how good.” He mutters, dropping a kiss on top of his head before sitting down next to him. “Still doesn’t explain why you’re here though.”
“Just wanted to see you.” His boyfriend replies simply, lacing their fingers together. Katsuki raises an eyebrow; surely there’s more to it. Shouto sighs, his free hand coming up to run a hand through his hair; Katsuki sighs into the touch. “And… I heard that you’ve been having a bad morning.”
“Terrible.” He enunciates. Shouto just looks at him, still massaging soft circles into his scalp. All he wants to do now is take a month of sick leave and go home and cuddle with Shouto. He slumps forward and drops his forehead onto Shouto’s shoulder, closing his eyes as he breathes in his scent. His hands come up to loosely grip on the other’s sweater. “I miss you.”
“We saw each other just this morning.”
Katsuki grumbles into the shirt, and Shouto giggles, sweet peals of laughter filling the room.
“I miss you too.” Shouto echoes softly, arms tightening around Katsuki in a tender embrace. Katsuki thinks if he dies now, he’ll still be the happiest and luckiest man on Earth.
“Feeling better?”
“Mm.”
Pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, Shouto untangles himself slightly. “You hungry? I brought food.”
Only now does Katsuki notice the nicely wrapped bento box sitting on his desk. “Did you make it, or…?”
“Don’t be mean.” Shouto pouts, lightly punching him in the arm. Katsuki snorts, clearly enjoying teasing his boyfriend. “Fuyumi-neesan made it. I went to visit her this morning, remember?”
“Ah, I look forward to it then.”
“Katsuki!” Shouto sticks out his lower lip, earning another chortle from Katsuki. “No clean scrubs for you if you keep talking!”
“Clean scrubs? You got me something to change?”
“Yeah, I know how much you hate being dirty so…”
“God I love you. I love you so fucking much. Have I ever told you that?” Katsuki says, slightly breathless, as he cups Shouto’s face and peppers kisses all over.
“Yes, I’ve heard,” he giggles mirthfully, eyes crinkling into beautiful crescents. Katsuki captures Shouto’s lips in a long searing kiss, finally releasing him. “Lemme change, then we can eat.”
Katsuki thinks, as he watches his boyfriend lay out the bento boxes, that he has really hit the jackpot.
“Stop staring and eat,” Shouto says, not looking up from the chopsticks he's arranging.
“Can’t help it. You’re too pretty.”
Shouto’s cheeks turn into a pretty shade of pink. “You’re insufferable.”
“And yet you’re still here.”
“Of course, where else would I be?”
Something so raw, so genuine in that voice, makes Katsuki’s heart clench, chest aching in the best way. He reaches across the desk and takes Shouto’s hand. “Thank you for being here.”
He feels a light squeeze over his hand. “Always.”